Farewell Amsterdam

My last day was a fairly quiet one.  Packing and a leisurely breakfast before I headed back into the city around lunchtime.  I went through Dam Square this time which I had seen by night a few days earlier.  It was just as touristy by day.  My goal was Central Station and the ferry across to the northern parts of Amsterdam.  When I asked someone where I could buy tickets for the ferry, I discovered they were free.  This was terrible news.  I had been here for five days and I had yet to make use of the *free* ferries!?!?  Off to the NDSM wharf I went.  There's a small collection of old boats there, including a graffiti-ridden submarine, a boat hotel, a green peace boat, and a bit red boat with a tower on it and a warning that reads "DANGER.  Intense sound  signal operates without warning." 

There wasn't that much else to see so I wandered through some abandon ship building yards before getting back on the ferry.  The wrong ferry as it turns out.  I could have waited for another one and made my way back by water, but I decided to go exploring instead.  I ended up in Jordaan, the old Jewish area and found one of the little inner gardens that the nuns (I think?) used to use.  They're pretty hard to find.  The trip back took me past Anne Frank House and the very long queue outside it.  Back through the tunnel though the Rijksmuseum and lost again for a bit before I found my regular coffee spot. 

Getting to the airport was quick and painless.  The pedicure was bliss.  I'm now typing this on the plane to Stockholm and reflecting on Amsterdam.

It's a great city.  I loved its tall skinny wonky houses leaning on each other like old ladies after too many G&Ts, its many many flower shops dotted over the city with a surprisingly vibrant display of colours for this time of year, its friendly and helpful people, its museums and art galleries that are designed for you to interact with the exhibits, its many parks, its very good coffee, and its amazing New Year's fireworks.